Egret

Great Egrets are tall, long-legged wading birds with long, S-curved necks and long, dagger-like bills. In flight, the long neck is tucked in and the legs extend far beyond the tip of the short tail. Its feathers are entirely white. It has a long, sharp yellow bill and long gray to black legs, with non-webbed feet with very long toes. When the great egret is in breeding plumage, it has long lacy and delicate plumes on its back that curl over its tail. Males and females look alike, but the males are a little larger. Interesting Facts: Great egrets do not feed at night like some other heron species. They either forage alone or in mixed flocks, often by slowly walking in shallow water. The great egret has also been called the American egret, common egret, great white egret, and angel bird. Marshes, ponds, shores, mud flats. Usually forages in rather open situations, as along edges of lakes, large marshes, shallow coastal lagoons and estuaries; also along rivers in wooded country. Usually nests in trees or shrubs near water, sometimes in thickets some distance from water, sometimes low in marsh. The word “egret” comes from the French word aigrette that means both “silver heron” and “brush”, referring to the long, filamentous feathers that seem to cascade down an egret’s back during the breeding season (also called “egrets”). Great Egrets avoid most predators by roosting in tall trees at night, with other egrets and herons. By nesting in large groups, the birds can warn each other of predators. The little egret is a small white heron with attractive white plumes on crest, back and chest, black legs and bill and yellow feet.